Youths Harass Va. Beach Police

Neither officer was injured and the crowd dispersed as additional officers arrived, police spokesman Lewis Thurston said. There were no arrests.

Thurston said a group of 200 to 250 young people was gathered on the beachfront around 1 p.m. when the people were spotted by an officer answering a public intoxication complaint.

According to Thurston, the officer called for assistance, and when a second officer riding an all terrain vehicle approached the crowd, the officer was hit by a bag of ice.

The first officer came to the assistance of the second and both where pelted by cans and bottles thrown from the crowd of black youths in their late teens and early 20s, Thurston said. The crowd overturned the all terrain vehicle.

"This could have happened on any beach on any weekend with any group of people," Thurston said.

Last year, a traditional Labor Day end-of-summer party, which drew a number of students from predominantly black colleges and universities along the East Coast, ended in violent confrontations between police and young people. More than $1.4 million in damage was done in looting and rioting.

Thurston said police have started beachfront foot patrols several weeks earlier than normal this year.

According to Capt. Clyde Hathaway, the patrols were started earlier this year because of alleged gang attacks.